OP's Lentil Soup

Old Pa

Tenderfoot
Jul 4, 2009
59
0
Northwoods
Yesterday was Soup Day. Time to reduce the rest of the bone-in spiral cut smoked glazed ham to Lentil Soup. My lentils got sorted, washed, and picked last night and were soaking until this morning. Ham came off the bone and was cubed. Couple pounds of cubed ham ready to be minced:

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Bone went into the pot with the lentils, fresh cracked black pepper and sea salt, dried basil, marjoram, thyme, chervil sage, a bump of fresh grated nutmeg, three bay leaves, Hungarian sweet paprika, worchestershire sauce, vegetable bullion cubes, and water. Here’s the pressure cooker as the Little Engine That Could filling the house with glorious smells:

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Cooked lentils cooled slowly until the pressure dropped, then stirred while pulling the hambone and the bay leaves. Pureed in the pressure cooker with a hand blender and a quart of chicken broth.

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Minced the cubed ham in the food processor and started browning it in some EVOO in the bottom of my twelve quart soup pot. Cleaned, prepped, and minced the onions, carrots, and celery in the food processor. Reserved the browned minced ham and browned six cloves on minced garlic in the soup pot before adding the other vegetables to soften. Returned the browned ham and deglazed with chicken broth. Added the cooked lentils, some more chicken broth and corrected the seasoning before bringing the hot tub up to a low covered simmer. The finished soup:

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Served with big hot crusty rolls and a glass of cab. Yum! :D

OP’s Lentil Soup: best part of a day in the kitchen (and one knife cut :mad:).

Seven quarts of leftover soup to freeze for delicious fast suppers to come: Priceless! :)
 

Old Pa

Tenderfoot
Jul 4, 2009
59
0
Northwoods
Whole wheat pasta with homegrown yellow and red cherry tomatoes and bacon sauce and homegrown marinated cucumber salad.

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Homegrown vine ripened yellow and red cherry tomatoes roasted with EVOO, sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, flaked red pepper and balsamic vinegar get cozy here with fresh homegrown basil, thyme and flatleaf Italian parsley.

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Here minced garlic sauteed in EVOO with fresh chopped white onion, fresh sliced mushrooms, homegrown green and red pepper, crumbled bacon, and pinon nuts relax in the pan.

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Adding the roasted tomatoes and their pan juices to the hot tub to get cozy and reduce after dropping the whole wheat pasta.

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Fresh homegrown burpless cucumber marinated with dill in the Svensk style. And with apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper in the decidedly non-Svensk style. :D

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Here the whole wheat spaghetti has been united with the roasted cherry tomato sauce and some good hard Italian flavor cheeses.

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The served plate. Roasted homegrown yellow and red cherry tomatoes with whole wheat pasta. Glass of cab. The candle is lit. The spaniels are drooling. SWMBO is impressed in spite of herself. Magnifico! :)
 

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